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General. They had followed Leto during the coup and were considered his most loyal troops. “That’s . . . not what I expected.”
    “Normally, only the army’s most promising troops are selected for a position in the Storm Knights, but this rapid expansion has forced us to increase recruiting. We had rosters to fill, so we requisitioned troops from other commanders, and we’ve had to work with whatever they’ve sent.”
    Shuffling your troubles off onto some other commander was a military tradition, but Madigan merely nodded in acknowledgement.
    “We’re training up soldiers who’ve never touched a storm glaive before, but most of those will get by. However . . .” She picked out one of the many lists on her desk and handed it to him. There were names, ranks, service dates, and a final column of notes. Disciplinary notes. “These are the men nobody wants. This is the bottom of the barrel.”
    He read through a few. “Insubordination, drunkenness, absent without leave, criminal activity . . .”
    “There are a few experienced Storm Knights in there as well, but as you are well aware, even the most promising soldier can stumble. When you draw up twenty-two thousand men in a hurry, you’re bound to end up with a few troublemakers.”
    “General lawlessness, incompatibility with other soldiers, possible insanity . . . Lovely crew you’ve got here.”
    “You mean you’ve got. They’re your problem now, Lieutenant Madigan.” Laddermore had a smile nearly as cold as his.
    “I see.”
    “I need a sixth platoon to fill out this division’s roster. Your assignment is to build this platoon for me from the names on that list. Of course, the worst offenders have already been hung, so you won’t have to deal with any murderers or rapists we know of. You can collect most of the soldiers from the brig or the stocks. The rest you’ll have to track down. Then you’ll form them into a functioning unit and have them prepared for the invasion within two months. Any questions?”
    Madigan blinked. “Two months?” He didn’t know which seemed less likely: being able to gather these men and train them to be Storm Knights in that time or breaching the walls of Sul.
    “Major Brisbane is a very determined individual. Anything else?”
    He paused only a moment.
    “Why me?” He knew the answer, but it was better to get it out in the open.
    “Do I really need to spell it out for you, Madigan?”
    “I would prefer we are perfectly clear, sir.”
    “No officer in his right mind wants to be assigned these dregs, and in any other time we’d boot them out of the army altogether. We both know this unit will probably be one step removed from mutineers. It will more than likely be an embarrassment to whoever is unfortunate enough to lead it, an inevitable black mark on someone’s career. At best it will be given the most unimportant, non-strategic assignments—which we can only hope will be completed without incident. As such, Sixth Platoon will be the last to be issued new equipment and resources, so as to not be a draw on the abilities of our functioning platoons. On the other hand, it isn’t like your career can get any worse. How long since your last promotion?”
    “I was a captain. I got busted back to lieutenant twelve years ago.”
    “Because of what you did during the Lion’s Coup . . . I’m assuming the rumors are true?”
    When he closed his eyes, he could still see the fire. “More than likely, sir.”
    “And you’ve been sent to every backwater duty station in the kingdom since then.” Laddermore stood up and walked around her desk. She paused in front of the map. “Our new king is far too honorable a man to ever speak ill of a knight who was following his old king’s orders, but he and Earl Hartcliff were friends. The earl had many friends, in fact, and most still hold a grudge. The entire military was divided during that time.”
    “If I recall correctly, your father was on the wrong